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EDBI Ups Its Game

The Export Development Bank of Iran is taking advantage of the country’s improving relations with the world. The bank is increasing its financial activities, providing loans and letters of credit to customers. Given the bank’s specific market, it is developing relationships with its customers to stay competitive.

The EDBI is using customer relationship management techniques to strengthen the bank’s services offered to its top clients. This program is being run in order to assess the special needs of top clients and then tailor solutions to meet them, according to the national branches director.

The services that are being considered for improvement include loan customization, deposit management, bank guarantees among various other services.

To run the improvement program a VIP client list will be drawn up; afterwards, a case specialist will be assigned to each client, who will seek to enhance the client-bank relationship. Case specialists will work to provide for each client’s banking needs at their location.

The move to provide top clients with more specifically tailored solutions is part of EDBI’s strategy to increase customer retention, as the banking market gradually becomes more competitive. The bank is trying to raise customer satisfaction and increase their loyalty by analyzing their needs.

The program also features a new customized feedback service in which each case specialist collects reports on VIP services and branch services and relays them to EDBI’s head of branches. Borrowers can also give direct feedback via employees in EDBI branches.

Customer relationship management involves all aspects of a company’s interaction with its customers, whether it is sales or service-related.

While the phrase ‘customer relationship management’ is most commonly used to describe a business-customer relationship, CRM systems are also used to manage business contacts, clients, contract wins and sales leads.

A move to better banking services for VIP customers is essential for the Tehran-based lender.

The top 20 EDBI clients took home 63 percent of total loans from March to September 2014, the bank reported. These clients were mainly from manufacturing, electricity, petroleum and petrochemical industries.

The Export Development Bank is gaining market share and has extensive government backing. The bank has also seen a rise in demand for its financial services over the past year, as sanctions against the country’s economy have eased leading to a surge in exports. EDBI is well placed to take advantage of this situation.

Foreign exchange facilities provided by the EDBI went up by 40 percent as $535 million dollars of loans and letters of credit were paid to clients from March to September 2014, the bank reported. This shows a $153 million dollars increase from the $382 million of financing in the previous Iranian fiscal year, which started March 2013.

To help boost exports even further, President Hassan Rouhani recently said: “We plan to give one billion dollars to the EDBI from the National Development Fund of Iran – Iran’s sovereign wealth fund – to alleviate the needs of exporters for marketing and entry into foreign markets.”

The Export Development Bank of Iran is an export credit agency. It is wholly owned by the Iranian government, which provides financing and risk management services to Iranian exporters and investors, with offices spread across Iran, and permanent representations in regional and international foreign markets.